PALs United for Obesity
PALs United for Obesity: Opportunities for Education and Advocacy
We have created Patient Advocacy Leaders United for Obesity to work with patients, advocates, and caregivers impacted by obesity to help prioritize advocacy outreach and policy ideas and to foster collaboration, mobilization and partnerships.
The framework for this work can be found here: PALs United for Obesity: Opportunities for Education and Advocacy. The purpose of this report is to present opportunities for education, advocacy, and collaboration and to help construct a framework for health advocates to develop a common ground approach to and an understanding of the underlying issues related to addressing the obesity epidemic that can be built into their advocacy campaign for policy change and education.
Short- and long-term goals for implementing a framework include:
1. Increase awareness and understanding among the health advocacy community that obesity is a chronic disease with physiological and genetic underpinnings, it can occur as a co-morbid condition alongside other chronic illnesses, and it impacts health outcomes and the cost of care.
2. Educate and mobilize health advocacy leaders to help build a common federal and state advocacy plan for improving enhanced access to safe and effective obesity treatment and interventions and addressing the need for critical social/economic factors for building a healthy lifestyle.
3. Apply lessons learned from other chronic illnesses (i.e., mental health, addiction, HIV) facing stigma and discrimination to help build programs to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with obesity/unhealthy weight. The focus of this report is on adults and older adults with a special emphasis on populations facing disproportionate health disparities including populations of color.
Additional obesity-related resources are below.
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Obesity-Focused Organizations
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Patient Advocacy & Professional Non-Profit Organizations (with an interest in Obesity)
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Government Organizations
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Legislative Organizations
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Academic/Think Tank Organizations